


cast your eyes down (in matters of the heart)

by walshisaweedbrain



Category: Golden Boy (TV 2019), The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor, bit of ooc, classic herewini banter, mitch being supportive, mostly kahu dealing with her crush for shelby, there's no toni tbh it's only so the ff would show up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-27 08:08:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30119757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/walshisaweedbrain/pseuds/walshisaweedbrain
Summary: That caught Mitch by surprise, “Oh?”“Yeah. This girl I mean— it’s whatever, you know? Cause she would never like me back anyway.”“Just to be clear, we’re talking about that blonde girl who came into the dairy specifically searching for you and given you her number already, right?”Kahu narrowed her gaze at her sister again, “What about that?”Mitch punched Kahu on the shoulder playfully, “Nothing, it just seems to me that she’s pretty interested actually.”
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Kahu Herewini, Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 17
Kudos: 138





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo! 
> 
> Look, I have literally no idea where this came from but it was sitting pretty in my computer so I thought... why not?
> 
> The idea would be to divide this in two parts, the first one is a bit more from Mitch's perspective (don't worry, plenty of Kahu to go around!) and the second part more focused on Kahu (and Shelby of course).
> 
> Anyway, this is mostly for fun so hope you enjoy it and maybe have a laugh with it :)

**i.**

The first time it happened was because Kahu forgot to erase the chronology from the family laptop. 

Mitch usually didn’t even consider that laptop, having her own private one, but her charger had recently stopped working and she was still waiting for a replacement. Living in Crawdon also meant having to wait longer for anything to reach you, be that mail or any other kind of deliveries. 

If you asked Mitch, it was kind of a miracle they could get all their stock refills for the dairy on time.

That was when she noticed it. At first, she thought it must’ve been a joke, because who in their right mind would ever search something as ridiculous as ‘how to approach a pretty girl’ on google? But the more Mitch thought about it, the more the gears in her brain started to connect the dots. 

Well it couldn’t be one of her moms, that was out of discussion after all the loud sex they were still having on a regular basis — Mitch really should’ve also ordered a pair of noise-canceling headphones. 

It couldn’t be Tama because he was barely around and happily engaged with Lisa. 

And it definitely wasn’t her because after the infinite push and pull, Mitch was happy to say that Dave and she were officially dating — and her moms never failed to remind her that choosing an Aussie might’ve as well been classified as a sin from the church. 

Which only left one member of the family. 

“What are you doing, weirdo?”

Mitch jumped on the chair, her chin slipping from her hand and almost landing roughly against the counter of the dairy. 

“Nothing!” she hurried, closing the tab in a rush, “Just uh— checking my order for the charger.” 

Kahu quirked an eyebrow at her sister unconvincingly but let it go with a shake of her head, “Yeah okay, sorry for whatever stupid article you’re writing or whatever, but I need the laptop for a school project.” 

Mitch smirked and passed the computer to her sister. Kahu turned around, ready to slip back home from the dairy when Mitch spoke again.

“Is that school project about how to approach a pretty girl?”

Kahu froze on the spot, back straight and rigid all of a sudden as she slowly turned on her heels. 

“The eff are you talking about?” 

To her credit, Mitch had to admit, Kahu had an impressive poker face, trying not to betray even a single emotion.

“Oh you know what I am talking about.” Mitch gave a teasing raise of eyebrows, Kahu swallowed down trickily, “So, who is she?”

“There’s no one and anyway it would be none of your business.” 

“Sure there’s someone, and you’re a mess about it already.” 

“You’re delusional Mitch. Being with Dave must’ve messed up your brain.”

Mitch groaned, “Kahu, you effing b—”

“What did we say about minding your consonants around your sister, Mitch?” their mom suddenly rounded the corner and put the impending banter to a stop. 

“Seriously? I can’t believe this always happens to me…” Mitch complained pointing a finger against her sister, “She never gets in trouble.”

Carol looked unimpressed at her older daughter, “Why would she get in trouble?”

Mitch met Kahu’s challenging gaze, “Because she— she… ugh whatever, I’m going at Dave’s.”

“Ah-ah,” Kahu stopped her with a devilish grin, “someone needs to manner the counter and I have homework to do.” 

Mitch cast her a murderous glance that didn’t budge Kahu in the slightest, “Effing b…”

Kahu only chuckled at the barely repressed expletive and took her victory by running away while she could, Mitch yelling at her shoulders “Conversation is not done, Kahu!”

**ii.**

Truth be told, Mitch knew that Kahu was careful and stealthy with her private life. If she didn’t want others to know her business, she would certainly know how to mislead them. 

At least, anyone who wasn’t a Herewini.

Because Mitch knew that something was going on for sure with her little sister. Kahu had never shown a particular interest every time Lisa would tell a story about her and Tama and how ridiculously in love they were. Or how Tama organized something romantic for Lisa — Mitch wasn’t sure her brother even knew what the word romantic meant, but if Lisa was happy with him, well Mitch supposed there could be worse things. 

But now Kahu would be all sucked up in whatever stupid tale Lisa was spitting out, absorbing every word and even asking questions — which yuck! — almost as if… she was herself planning to do something like that. 

And really, Mitch was not that invested in Kahu’s love life — her sister was 16 after all, she was bound to have crushes and heartbreaks — but no one had ever been truly able to catch Kahu’s attention before. 

And they lived in Crawdon, so Kahu having a crush on someone might’ve been the most exciting thing going on around in a while. 

Plus, Mitch was a journalist, it was only fair she would jump on a story if there was one.

“Wait, so like Tama forgot to actually make the restaurant reservation but still surprised you with a picnic under the stars?” Kahu’s voice reached Mitch’s ear on the other side of the table. 

“Yes!” Lisa nodded enthusiastically, even grabbing Kahu’s hand for good measure, “Oh it was so romantic.”

Mitch barely managed not to scoff, chewing on a piece of steak and kept staring at her sister attentively. 

Scratch the ‘if’, there was definitely a story there. And Kahu definitely had her eyes on someone. 

**iii.**

In hindsight, Mitch should’ve put two and two together right away. To her defense though, she had never seen this mysterious girl before. 

Sure she had heard the chatters around about someone new in town, but that was all. She had her own life to think about and planning how not to be a failure, thank you very much.

The first time Shelby Goodkind stepped inside the dairy, Mitch had been confused by the new presence and blinded by her megawatt smile. 

“Hello there.” soft voice and gracious manners, Shelby truly seemed to step out of a magazine, or a movie, or anywhere that was not Crawdon for the matter. 

“How can I help you?” Mitch offered her a polite smile back. She had been behind the counter for the previous three hours and her back was aching from the uncomfortable position on the chair. 

“I was told that I could find Kahu here?”

Mitch blinked, the penny finally dropping. So this was the mysterious girl that had Kahu in such a fuss lately. 

“Kahu, yeah uhm— she’s not here right now. Out of town with our mother for something.”

“Oh,” the blonde girl frowned for a moment, “right, okay. Could you tell her I was searching for her?”

“Sure thing,” Mitch nodded, “Do you need me to pass something along?”

“No, that’s fine.” Shelby shook her head and a whiff of perfume hit Mitch’s nostrils. Well Jesus, that was not the type of girl Mitch had imagined Kahu to have a crush on. 

“She has my number already,” Shelby added. 

Wait what? Kahu had stepped up her game enough to ask girls their numbers already?

Then a sudden thought caught Mitch by surprise — was this girl also interested in Kahu?

“Right,” Mitch coughed lightly and smiled amicably at Shelby, “I’ll tell her to call you then.” 

Mitch saw a blush coloring the other girl’s cheeks and she bowed her head down slightly.

“Right, thank you then. Have a good day.” 

Scratch another ‘if’, Mitch decided, this girl was definitely interested in Kahu too. 

**iv.**

“Awfully nice to meet your girlfriend today, Kahu.” 

Three heads stopped eating all of a sudden at Mitch’s comment. Kahu shot a fiery gaze at her sister, fork still halfway through her mouth. 

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Kahu replied, after swallowing her mouthful down. 

Susan, sitting next to her, turned to her youngest daughter with a gasp, “A girlfriend? And you haven’t shared the news with your family yet?”

Kahu reeled back, looking like she might want the ground to open up and swallow her whole. Mitch snickered to herself, it was a nice change of things for once. 

Putting Kahu on the spot was not easy at all. With her witty remarks, her never-ending playful and self-assured attitude, Kahu was a true embodiment of the Herewini family spirit.Mitch could see — even though she never truly understood — the appeal in people like Tama and Kahu. Different as they might be, the Golden Boy and the youngest Herewini both wore their strong personalities on their sleeves. It was something that Mitch had never been able to see in herself and could grow even a little resentful of it at times.

So any occasion Mitch had to pick on Kahu and embarrass her, she would take.

“Yes Kahu, I thought you didn’t have secrets with the fam.” Mitch grinned wickedly. 

Kahu narrowed her eyes at her, “Mitch, what the eff are you—”

“Blonde? Pretty? Aussie? Any of that ring a bell?”

Kahu’s eyes widened, but before she could speak Carol looked at her in shock.

“Aussie? Again? We already have to put up with Mitch’s tragic choices, Kahu.” 

“Mom, I swear this is not what it seems.” Kahu rushed out, “Mitch has no idea of what she’s talking about.”

“Oh really?” Mitch chuckled, “Cause she came to the dairy searching for you and, guess guess, she even said you already had her number.”

Kahu sighed and slumped her shoulders under the relentless gazes of her family. 

“Not that it’s any of your business,” she started after a beat, sending Mitch a dirty look, “but Shelby is new in town and I was just helping her settling in.”

Mitch scoffed, “I’m sure you were.”

“Oh eff off Mitch! What are you jealous? Can’t you mind your own things for once?”

Any other time, Mitch would have not relented, enjoying the chance to grill her little sister until she was properly roasted. But there was something akin to defeat in Kahu’s eyes and posture that made Mitch pull back. 

When the familiar sound of someone entering the dairy rang through the house, Kahu jumped at the occasion and left the house with a quick “I’ll take it!”

Mitch realized she might have pushed a little too far for something her little sister was not ready to share. 

**v.**

Mitch waited until her moms went to bed and took a deep breath before knocking on Kahu’s door. No answer came from inside and Mitch tried again. This time she heard a quick “yeah?” and pushed the door open. 

Kahu was sitting on the bed, headphones around her neck still pumping music that promptly stopped. 

“Can I come in?”

Kahu rolled her eyes, “You’re already in Mitch.”

“Right,” her older sister shuffled on her feet, “then can we talk for a minute?”

Kahu pointed at the desk chair wordlessly. 

“If you’re about to ask me what G-strings are for again I swear—”

“Kahu, I’m sorry.” Mitch interrupted her. 

Kahu widened her eyes in surprise, “Oh… what for? I mean it’s hard to keep track with your bullshit record.”

Mitch let out a laugh even though she could see past her sister’s attempt to cut the tension. 

“I overstepped at dinner. You were right, it’s none of my business.”

Kahu nodded but remained silent, waiting for Mitch to continue, “I guess it’s just… I don’t know, I thought it was funny to see you so caught up in someone. You’ve never really shown special attention to anyone before.”

Kahu grimaced, “First of all ew, don’t say special attention like I’m some creepy old man picking up on younger girls.”

Mitch scoffed, “Very specific of you.”

But Kahu pretended not to hear her, “Second, yes, you should mind your business but that’s not really why I was mad.” 

That caught Mitch by surprise, “Oh?” 

“Yeah. This girl I mean— it’s whatever, you know? Cause she would never like me back anyway.”

“Just to be clear, we’re talking about that blonde girl who came into the dairy specifically searching for you and given you her number already, right?”

Kahu narrowed her gaze at her sister again, “What about that?”

Mitch punched Kahu on the shoulder playfully, “Nothing, it just seems to me that she’s pretty interested actually.” 

“She’s just nice and new in town.” 

“She gave you her number, dude.” Mitch repeated in spite of Kahu’s groan, “Have you texted her already?”

“What? No, Mitch it’s not like that.” Kahu’s shoulders deflated for the second time that night and Mitch was seriously starting to worry about her sister’s usually laid-back attitude. 

“Okay, I don’t get it.” 

“Surprises no one.” Kahu bit back. 

“Seriously, who spit in your vape? This is not the Kahu I know.”

Kahu snorted, “About time you confront the fact that you might not know me so well.” 

“Ouch… effing b.”

Kahu grinned at that, “You can say the bad words when mom is not around, Mitchy.”

“Fuck off.” Mitch immediately replied and, after a beat, both sisters burst out laughing.

It was a rare occurrence to have them on the same wavelength, often so different and disinterested one to the other, so they cherished those small moments like victories. 

Usually, Tama was the one to get Kahu better mostly because of the shared humor, and also because Mitch herself had always tried to put distance between her life and her family. Mitch did love them all — she loved them a lot deep down — but she couldn’t help but feel the profound differences that set her apart from the rest of the family or the people in Crawdon.

“Listen, I know it would be bull to tell you that you can confide in me or whatever,” Mitch resumed when the laughs died down, “and you know I don’t approve your grey moral code of selling vapes or making money of out a dead seal’s merchandise, but you’re my sister Kahu, and I’m here for you. And if a blonde newcomer wants to stomp on your heart I will— well…”

“Beat her up?” Kahu provided with a chuckle, “How morally correct of you.”

“She’s at least sixteen, right? She can handle it and I could get away with it.” 

Kahu shook her head and then finally smiled at Mitch sincerely for the first time in a long time, “Thank you, Mitch, really. I mean—- there will be no need for you to flee the country on the account of a murder, cause no one is breaking my heart and well… I don’t know, there’s really nothing going on between Shelby and I.”

Mitch nodded, placing a gentle hand on her sister’s shoulder, “But you’d want that, wouldn’t you?”

And just because that night was full of surprises, Kahu — honest to god — blushed deeply.

“Maybe,”

“Then text her.”

Kahu frowned and was about to talk back, but Mitch raised a hand to stop her, “Nah, no excuses. Don’t be a pussy like I was with Dave, alright? Girl got you her number so use it.”

“What if it doesn’t work out?” Kahn wondered out loud before Mitch could get out of the room. 

“Then you would’ve dodged an Aussie bullet.” Mitch tilted her head to the side amused, her teasing might’ve stopped but there was no way she would get used to see her little sister so flustered over someone, “You know, I’m kinda envious you’re gonna steal my spot of being the one dating an Aussie.”

Kahu snickered, “Don’t worry, I could never steal your spot as the family disappointment.”

Normally, Mitch would’ve flipped Kahu off, but this time she only smiled softly and appreciated the fondness behind the words. It was a strange relationship for sure, but Mitch knew that Kahu had her back when it really mattered. 

“A tough job but someone has to do it.”

They shared another laugh. 

“Thanks, Mitch.”

Mitch shrugged, knowing that Kahu didn’t deal well with being put up on the spot — and had a special allergy to the words ‘thank you’ —

“Hey things can still blow up in your face, and I’ll be here to enjoy the show.” 

Kahu actually flipped her off, “At least I have good taste in Aussies.” 

Mitch rolled her eyes, thinking back to the blonde girl — Shelby was it? — and could see why her sister liked her so much. 

“Make sure to do something to get her then, idiot.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kahu lowered her gaze, trying to hide the wide smile on her lips but Shelby caught it anyway, pressing a finger under her chin until their eyes met again.
> 
> “And would this you be interested, perhaps, in going on another date maybe? One where I can actually not make a fool of myself?”
> 
> And Shelby’s crystal clear laughter made Kahu think that maybe being a fool could pay off sometime.
> 
> “I thought you’d never ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second part, second ride! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy and I'll see you at the end!

**vi.**

_— Do something to get her. Text her. Make a damn move on that girl —_ Kahu groaned to herself, face hidden between her arms, the top half of her body almost entirely leaning down on the counter of the dairy. 

Mitch made it look easy as if she hadn’t been the one to struggle with her admission of feelings for Dave for ages. 

“What’s up with you, Kahuini?” 

Kahu groaned — Tama and his stupid nicknames — as she slightly lifted her head, hair parting to the sides just enough to show Tama’s figure. Her brother immediately going for his favorite jar of chocolate sweets, pouring almost half of the content directly into his mouth. 

“Nothing, just thinking.” 

“Oh don’t let Mitch be a bad influence on you.” Tama winked at Kahu good-naturedly and they exchanged a chuckle.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be running to Auckland or Australia anytime soon.” 

Tama set the jar down back to its place and leaned over the counter. It was one of those rare occasions when he didn’t have a bunch of screaming children following him around and pestering him for signatures.

“I know you consider me a traitor too for leaving.”

“Me? Criticizing the Golden Boy of Crawdon? Never.”

Tama smiled at his sister’s antics but gently squeezed her shoulder in a weird attempt at being comforting.

“Seriously Kahu, you look down these days. You’ve barely made jokes last night at dinner and didn’t even fight me for the tv remote.” 

Kahu tried to play it cool and just shrugged, “I’m a little busy with school lately and… I don’t know, everything.” 

“Everything?” Tama repeated like that was a foreign word, “What’s everything?”

Kahu blurted the word out with a fake cough, “A girl.”

“A what?”

Kahu rolled her eyes, “A girl.” 

“Oh— where is she?” Tama looked around as if the mentioned girl could jump out from behind an aisle — given how often Derek would hide and scare the patrons at the dairy it wasn’t that unfathomable —

“She’s not here, dummy.”

As soon as the words were out, the electronic bell of the dairy went off and a blonde girl with a dazzling smile came in. 

“Hey Kahu.” she greeted enthusiastically, like the simple view of the brunette could light up her entire day. 

Tama’s eyebrows raised almost to his airline. Someone coming in and recognizing his sister before him for once? Well, that surely was a tale worth telling. 

“I was wondering if you had any plans this weekend?”

Kahu’s shoulders straightened even while she tried to act nonchalantly, “No more than any other weekend.”

Shelby and Tama both furrowed their brows because — even for Tama’s standards — what the hell did that even mean? 

“Uh okay?” Shelby tried not to let that non-answer discourage her, “It's supposed to be nice weather, so maybe you wanted to come with me to the quarry? Thought I could work on my tan a little and maybe we could rehearse that presentation we have for school together?”

The tone this girl was using was too hopeful for Kahu not to pick up on it, Tama thought. 

“Yeah, that’d be fine.” Kahu shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Great!” Shelby sighed in relief like she was just reaching the finishing line of a long marathon. 

_— Jesus, how long had this thing been going on? —_ Tama couldn’t help but wonder when his little sister had grown up so much to be out there chasing girls. 

Or well… maybe having girls chasing her would’ve been more appropriate. 

“Come pick me up at 10? Is that good? I’m not exactly sure of where to go around here yet.”

Kahu nodded and didn’t bother to consider Shelby’s lie, because really you couldn’t get lost in Crawdon even if you walked around with closed eyes — and she had done it multiple times, walking back tired from rugby practice —

But Shelby was asking her. To pick her up. Like a— like—

“Perfect! It’s a date then!”

Exactly. Like a date. 

She came back to earth only when Tama roughly squeezed her shoulder. 

“What?” Kahu looked around quickly, deducting that Shelby must've already gone away.

“What do you mean what? That the girl? You’re making me so damn proud Kahuini.” Tama was patting her enthusiastically like she had achieved some unheard of goal in life. 

“She’s just a girl, Tama.”

“A girl with a clear crush on you that just asked you out,” he draped an arm around his sister’s shoulders when she saw her wince, “What’s the matter, Kahu? You don’t like her back?”

“No, I— I like her just fine.”

Tama scoffed, “Jeez, don’t be too happy about it.”

Kahu rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat, “I’ve never been on a date before. The closest thing I went to was Lisa’s speed dating night— mind you, I was only there to sell Ghost vapes with your face on it or whatever. But god Tama, dating seemed so tragic and so not worth it.”

Tama burst out laughing, “That’s not dating, Kahu.”

He fished for a packet of gummy bears near the counter — the one dollar pack Mitch always complained that Kahu stole, but you can’t steal what’s already yours, can you? — 

“I mean, maybe that’s how you find a date, but that ain’t it.” 

“Then how is it?”

A part of Kahu was valiantly fighting against asking advice to Tama of all people, but she quickly shut it up and took whatever help she could. Beggars couldn't be choosers.

“Dating is like… hanging out with your favorite person. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you’re doing it together and, like, you feel excited at the idea of spending time with this person.”

Well, that was slightly romantic — Kahu guessed.

“- and you don’t care about dirty dishes in the sink, or throwing dirty underwear around them.”

“Yeah, no, okay that’s enough. I got it.” Kahu put her hands forward to stop her brother, “But how does all of this apply to Shelby and I going to the quarry?”

Tama raised his shoulder eloquently.

“I don’t know.”

“Great. Just great then.”

He popped a few gummy bears in his mouth, “Well do you have fun when you’re with her?”

“Yeah, she’s pretty funny and I guess— I mean she laughs a lot around me, so I guess she finds me funny too.”

“And how do you feel when she’s close to you?”

Kahu remained in silence for a few moments, pondering how to express herself, “Uh sweaty hands, heart beating like I’m about to feel sick, and she’s so pretty sometimes all I can do is stare at her.”

Tama’s smiled widened at his sister’s words, “There you go.” he side hugged Kahu quickly, “Now you’re ready for that date.” 

Kahu pursed her lips and didn’t comment on the fact that Tama had not actually said a useful word about how to get _through_ her date. But that was fine, Kahu thought, because he had said much more than she was expecting in the first place. 

“Hey Tama?” she called before her brother could exit the dairy’s doors, “Thank you, guess they don’t call you the Golden Boy for nothing.”

Tama laughed shortly and knocked at the side of his head, “Guess something is still in there after all.”

**vii.**

“You know, you didn’t need to come just to please me.” Shelby broke the silence, her voice only slightly on edge. 

If someone was not paying attention it would’ve been easy to miss, but Kahu was nothing but paying attention and she immediately picked up on it. The tone had not been aggressive but she could sense irritation behind it. 

“Uh?”

Yeah, so maybe she was great at picking up on things — like detective great, she could’ve totally given Derek a run for his money if he had any — but she was certainly not the best at communicating. 

Not when a pretty girl was involved and not when that girl was Shelby. 

“Yeah, I mean—” Shelby tried to play it nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulder just the right way to feign disinterest, “I’m a big girl, I can take rejection.”

Kahu frowned because — rejection? Weren’t they just sitting in front of the old quarry with a picnic basket, basking in the glowing sun in what totally was a date?

Shelby looked at her pointedly and Kahu felt a rising blush on her neck. 

_— speak, you goddamn idiot, just speak to her! —_

“Ah well, you say that but I bet no one rejected you ever before.”

As soon as the words flew out, Kahu slapped a hand over her mouth. Dear lord, could the ground just open up for _one fucking time_ and swallow her whole? 

Shelby looked at her with a mix of confusion and amusement. 

A long moment of silence stretched out and Kahu wished for Shelby to speak, to say anything before she could send the conversation crashing and burning once again. 

“I wouldn’t know really,” Shelby cleared her throat and a shade of pink colored her cheeks too, “I never asked another girl out before you.” 

_Oh._

Kahu wanted to slap herself in the same way she would’ve loved to slap Mitch at times — hard and without remorse. And maybe she would’ve done it if not for Shelby standing in front of her, trying to make her first date with a girl work out. 

Oh god— Kahu was seriously the first girl Shelby had the guts to ask out.

Somehow, instead of freaking her out more, that realization made Kahu sober up. 

“That’s uh flattering, Shelby, thank you.”

Shelby nodded and wrapped her arms around both knees, almost like she was searching for protection, “Yeah… well, I didn’t want you to accept out of pity or something, so I didn’t say anything. But now it still looks like you’d prefer to be anywhere else than here.”

Kahu widened her eyes in shock — oh dear, was that the effing impression she was giving to the girl she actually had a crush on? Maybe she wasn’t that much better than Mitch after all when it came to feelings —

“No!” She rushed out before her silence could give Shelby an even worse idea, and one of her hands reflexively grasped Shelby’s, “I’m sorry, I—”

Kahu shook her head and let out a humorless laugh, “I’ve been a mess all day, haven’t I?”

Shelby finally smiled back at her. A sincere and warm smile. It was small but it was there, and Kahu felt proud because she was the one making Shelby smiling like that. Maybe not everything was lost.

“Just a little.” Shelby teased, her shoulder bumping against Kahu’s playfully. 

Kahu took a breath and then faced the blonde openly perhaps for the first time in the entire day. 

“I’m glad to be here with you, Shelby, I mean it. And I’m flattered you asked me out— to be the first girl you thought about I mean. I’m just not, well…”

Shelby’s expression fell and Kahu stopped talking at the sudden change.

“Oh my god, I’ve read it all wrong? You don’t uhm… not girls in that way?”

And Kahu burst out laughing. Really, amongst all the things that Shelby might’ve thought, that took the cherry. She laughed so hard the tears started spilling from the corners of her eyes and Shelby punched her on the shoulder half in indignation and half in relief. 

“You should’ve seen your face, Shelby. You completely flatlined there.”

“Fuck off, Kahu.” Shelby defended weakly as she finally joined the laughter fit.

When the laughs dimmed down to a few giggles at most, Kahu rubbed her eyes clean and found that the weird and thick tension had thankfully disappeared. 

It couldn’t go worse than that, could it now?

“I’m interested, Shelby, I really am. In uh both— girls and you, I mean.”

“Okay,” Shelby allowed a tiny nod, “then why do you often act like I’m not around? You barely look at me at times.”

Kahu bit her lower lip but didn’t let the awkwardness get the best of her, she truly didn’t want to ruin things with Shelby one more time. 

“You’re pretty.”

“I’m pretty?” Shelby quirked an eyebrow, “I’m so pretty that you can’t even look at me?”

Kahu shrugged, “Pretty much.” 

The blonde Aussie rolled her eyes, “As much as I appreciate the compliment, Kahu, I’m gonna need something more to work with here.”

And yeah, that was a pretty flawless logic even Kahu couldn’t argue with. 

“What I mean was that you’re so pretty it is hard for me to believe you’d be interested in someone like, well, me.”

“What, you think I’m some sort of princess and you’re not my height or something like that?”

Kahu’s eloquent raise of eyebrows confirmed the line of thought. 

“Oh god,” the blonde shook her head with a chuckle, “look, Kahu, you’re like— the first person who really helped me out settling in when I moved here. You helped me at school and you were kind and thoughtful and just, I don’t know, you made sure I wasn’t going to feel like an outsider even though I am.”

“You’re not.” Kahu immediately defended, but Shelby looked at her challengingly.

“Really? I’m Australian, that’s enough to make me an outsider here.” Shelby said matter of factly, but there was already fondness in her voice, like she didn’t really mind being an outsider in Crawdon. 

And maybe — Kahu mused — she really didn’t mind if there was someone to help her navigate it all. Someone like Kahu.

“We welcomed Dave and he’s an Aussie too.” Kahu shrugged. 

“Yeah after like fifteen years.”

Kahu snorted because Shelby was right, “Guess you’re gonna have to stick around that long and find out just how welcoming we can be… after a while at least.” 

Shelby moved her hand, the one that was still in Kahu’s gentle grasp, and slowly but surely intertwined their fingers together. 

“You can just say it if you want me around, you know?”

Kahu felt her cheeks boiling all of a sudden, something deeper stirred in the pit of her stomach. 

Part of her wanted nothing more than to lean forward and kiss Shelby, but another part of her wanted to savor the moment as it was, knowing it was already going to be one of her favorite memories. 

Shelby gave a small squeeze to their clasped hands, “And none of that not being enough thing, okay? I’m just— me. And me thinks that you’re absolutely good enough as you are already.”

Kahu lowered her gaze, trying to hide the wide smile on her lips but Shelby caught it anyway, pressing a finger under her chin until their eyes met again . 

“And would this you be interested, perhaps, in going on another date maybe? One where I can actually not make a fool of myself?”

And Shelby’s crystal clear laughter made Kahu think that maybe being a fool could pay off sometime.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

**viii.**

So here was the thing. 

Mitch had never been a person to care much about fashion choices and labels, but she did know pretty well which colors went together and which didn’t. Or what fabrics could go well with each other and what to stay away from. 

Plainly put, she was not the type to spread glue on her body and then throw herself inside the closet with her eyes closed. That was very much what Kahu did if you asked Mitch.

After Tama had left Crawdon to go play rugby professionally, Kahu had taken upon herself the sacred duty to raid his closet and mix and match whatever she could put her hands on. Mitch was not even sure when was the last time she had seen Kahu coming back from a shopping trip with her mothers in the city. 

Not that it mattered really. For all the wrong patterns and atrociously colored shirts — Mitch’s words, of course — Kahu had her own style. If anything, she wore everything with such ease and comfort to make anyone question themselves instead. 

The surprising thing had been seeing Shelby starting to wear a few of Kahu’s t-shirts. 

Mitch knew that the two had quite recently become a thing — even though she really had no idea of how official they were and her prying days into Kahu’s love life were mostly gone — but she had no idea they were at the ‘sharing clothes’ kind of level already. 

Then again, gays did move fast — Mitch should’ve learned one thing or two from her moms already.

The morning that Shelby had made her way past the dairy’s entrance with a cheerful “Good morning y’all.” — even though Mitch was the only one at the counter — it had been impossible to ignore the bright yellow, green and red t-shirt that she was wearing. And surely enough, Shelby knew how to wear even Kahu’s horrible fashion choices in a way that made her look fancy.

“I don’t know what Crawdon might have possibly done to make you sound so happy, but good morning Shelby.”

Shelby chuckled at the deadpan, starting to get used to the way Mitch would slander her own town on pretty much any given occasion. 

“Any chance I can find Kahu home and ready? We’re going ATVing today.”

Mitch frowned, “What? No. She’s in bed sick with something.”

Shelby blinked in confusion, “Sick? She was absolutely fine yesterday when we decided to—”

As if on cue, Kahu came rushing from behind the corner that linked the Herewini house to the dairy, gesturing at Shelby from behind Mitch’s back like crazy. 

Mitch looked in concern as Shelby’s face went through a different array of emotions in the span of a few seconds.

“Uh right… right! Kahu’s sick, yeah totally, she must’ve sent me a message this morning and-”

But Mitch had instinctively turned around as her sister’s movements seized all of a sudden and she remained frozen still. 

Mitch had two options: charging at Kahu with her best rugby attempt at a tackle or-

“What the eff is going on here?”

Kahu bit her bottom lip, looking torn between guilt and mischief, so Mitch turned to Shelby which only seemed even more confused than her if possible. 

First option was starting to look really appealing in Mitch’s book.

“What the hell Kahu? You said you were sick! Made a whole fuss about it last night, begged me to cover your shifts for the entire day and for— wait,” something finally clicked in Mitch’s brain, “you asked me to cover so you could go on a fun daily vacation with Shelby?”

Kahu raised her hands in a sign of innocence, “Wait Mitch, I can explain,” 

Before Mitch could realize it Kahu was bolting past her, grabbing Shelby’s hand and making a run for the exit of the dairy. 

Mitch could only open her mouth in shock as they disappeared in the morning sun, the trace of their joined laughter still in the air. 

And somehow, Mitch didn’t have it in her to be mad about it — she was still pissed at the blatant lie, but not mad —

Mitch wouldn't have said it out loud, but if she had to sweat a few more hours inside that little dairy so her little sister could be happy and in love well… it wasn’t the end of the world. 

**ix.**

Shelby was polite, ever the perfect guest as her meals at the Herewini house multiplied. She always baked something beforehand when she was invited to dinner, or even helped Carol and Susan prepare the meal. 

And Kahu stopped — most of the times at least — to shovel food into her mouth like only a hungry Tama did, and always passed the serving bowls to Shelby first. There was even a resemblance of modesty in the way Kahu ate now and Mitch wanted to laugh because, really, her sister was doing a 180 for an Aussie girl.

Her words caught Kahu halfway through asking Shelby if she wanted more potatoes, “Crazy what love does to someone.” and the whole room went silent. 

Kahu almost choked on her mouthful and Shelby — did Mitch say she was a perfect guest already? — caught the bowl before it could smash on the floor. 

Carol and Susan exchanged a glance, seemingly more amused than anything else, but Kahu looked on the verge of jumping to Mitch’s neck. Before any of that could happen though, Shelby cleared her throat and smiled bashfully. 

“My mom told me the same thing,” she dared a quick glance at Kahu sitting next to her but the brunette kept her eyes firmly trailed to the plate, “Guess I should start believing her a little bit.” 

Then Shelby blinked a few times, realizing that Kahu was not about to add anything else she turned her wide smile to Susan, “Mrs. Herewini, dinner is amazing as usual. You could even give a pointer or two my mother.”

Susan shook her head, “Oh Shelby, how many times, it’s just Susan and Carol for you.”

Shelby nodded, a tint of pink covering her cheeks like the first time Susan had said those exact same words. 

Next to Shelby, Kahu finally seemed to have returned to life. From the corner of her eye Mitch noticed her hand moving on top of Shelby’s as she quickly leaned over and left a kiss on the blonde’s cheek. 

Shelby fully blushed this time, nevertheless she turned her palm upward and slotted her fingers with Kahu’s. 

Mitch looked at them, both speaking a silent language to each other, and thought that yeah — maybe the crazy things love could do to someone were not that bad. 

**x.**

“Ugh I hate to admit it, but I’ll miss you, short stack.” 

Kahu scoffed a laugh, “Don’t count on me repeating that shit.” 

Mitch flipped her sister off. 

“I can’t believe I’ve been with Dave for longer and he has never invited me to go to Australia together.” 

“Maybe he finally understood there’s nothing worthy there and New Zealand is a better country,” Kahu shrugged, tossing a half-folded t-shirt into her suitcase without much care, “or maybe he doesn’t like the family he has there.” 

“Oh yeah,” Mitch plopped down on the unoccupied half of Kahu’s bed, “he ran for the hills as soon as he could.”

“And still ended up in Crawdon,” Kahu continued for her, “not what he was he was hoping for I’m betting.” 

Mitch chuckled because as much as she pretended to hate it, Kahu’s impressions of her were truly spot on.

“He says he’s happy here,” she spoke again after a beat, watching Kahu rummaging through her dozen chargers to find what she needed. 

“Course he’s happy here,” Kahu grunted, fighting against some tangled wires, “doesn’t mean he couldn’t be happy somewhere else too. You know, a place where you would also be happy.” 

Mitch frowned, pleasantly surprised, and pulled herself up on her elbows, “When did you learn to do some grown-up talks?”

Kahu sent her a dirty glance, “Eff off. Just cause I have a sense of humor— which you totally don’t get anyway, doesn’t mean I am a clown.”

“Hey you said it, not me.” Mitch raised her hands in surrender, “Did you have such talks with Shelby? About going away?”

Kahu finally stopped pacing around the room like a caged lion and slumped on the desk chair, her back too low to be any comfortable for anyone else — but this was Kahu, and Mitch had long noticed her sister couldn’t sit straight anywhere apparently.

“Maybe.” Kahu gave another shrug. 

Mitch huffed, speaking with her sister sometimes was like pulling teeth, “Maybe? It’s a yes or no question, Kahu.” 

Kahu rolled her eyes, “What if we did? I mean it’s not like I’m leaving tomorrow from here.”

Mitch smirked, “Technically you are leaving tomorrow.” 

Kahu cast her a knowing glance, “Only for a few weeks. It’s nothing serious anyway.” 

“Shelby is going to visit her relatives and she invited you to go, sounds pretty serious to me.” 

“That’s not what I meant—” Kahu scratched the back of her neck, taking her time to find the rights words, “yeah Shelby and I, we’re pretty serious but the talks… I don’t know, she mentioned going away for college and I get it, of course, it’s just so…”

“Early?”

“Scary.” 

Mitch blinked, convinced to have heard wrong. Scary was not a usual word that applied to Kahu’s vocabulary. In all honesty, Mitch was not sure she had seen Kahu properly scared in a very long time — except of course when Derek crept upon them unexpectedly from every corner of that damn town.

“I’m sorry, did you just say the s-word?”

Kahu scoffed, “No need to be dramatic about it.” 

“That’s my brand I’m afraid.” Mitch sat on the bed, “It’s just so unlike you. I mean you’re… Kahu.”

“And you’re a massive dumbass, yet here we are.” 

“Okay, now you’re just deflecting in hope I’m gonna forget about this but I won’t. What’s so scary about talking college somewhere far away from Crawdon with Shelby? Shouldn’t that be exciting?”

“What if we break up?” Kahu huffed exasperatedly.

“Ah! So that’s what’s actually worrying you.”

Kahu slumped even more than Mitch thought possible, “We’re sixteen. It’s not like a rare thing to break up at this age— I just think that planning college together is a step too far yet.” 

Mitch looked at her sister almost with sympathy. She couldn’t really relate to what was happening, but she could understand the fear of things not lasting, of not being good enough for things to work out. Of not wanting to be left behind by everyone too. 

“Want my two cents on this?” Mitch asked.

“Not particularly but I’ll pretend to care.”

“I think Shelby just wants a reassurance that you’re in this with her, you know? That you like her as much as she likes you and that you both want it to work out.” 

“But I show her all the—”

“Sometimes words are important too, Kahu. Trust me, okay? I’m a journalist, I should know.” 

And where usually would’ve been a joke, this time Kahu sat pensively on the words.

“So I should tell her I love her?”

Mitch quirked an eyebrow in surprise, “Do you love her?”

“Of course I do.” Kahu nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“And you haven’t told her yet?”

“I’m going to Australia with her!”

And well, fair point — Mitch thought — that was pretty close to a declaration of love out loud from a New Zealander. 

But telling Kahu that was not going to be any help, so Mitch had to settle for something else. 

“Just talk to her, Kahu, whatever you’re feeling… scared, or happy or worried or in love, you know just— talk to her. Shelby is crazy about you, I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“But what if-”

“Kahu, what’s a Mitch?”

“What?”

“What is the thing you all call pulling a Mitch?”

Kahu frowned not understanding, but dutifully recited, “When you come close to getting what you want but you freak out and bail in way that it’s ultimately self-destructive.”

“Yeah,” Mitch patted her sister on the way to the door, a knowing smile on her lips, “don’t do that and you’ll be fine.”

_ **bonus.** _

“You know what our mom Carol always said, Shelby?” 

Shelby raised her eyes from the book she was reading, nestled on the couch in Kahu’s lap, and hummed a surprised “Uh?” at Mitch’s question.

“That whoever of us marries an Australian can forget the mugs inheritance.” Mitch pointed at the proudly displayed collection on the wall of the Herewini house. 

Kahu chuckled, “Don’t bother Mitch, mom loves Shelby almost as much as she loves Tama and that’s even more than she loves me.” 

Mitch gasped, shutting her laptop without bothering to save the editing touches on her last article, “So I’ve been shoved away even from the third place of the podium? This is unacceptable, Shelby’s not even a Herewini.”

“Not yet.” Kahu teased. 

“You know guys,” Shelby finally chimed in, a veil of confusion in her eyes, “a year and a half with this family and I’m still learning to read between the lines at times.” she turned to Kahu, “Are you saying we should get married?”

Mitch doubled in laughter at the way Kahu’s eyes comically widened and how she tried to scramble to the opposite end of the couch, except realizing that Shelby was still practically lying half on top of her. 

Kahu cleared her throat, trying to fight the embarrassment away even though her cheeks were still painfully red. 

“No! I mean not now or for, like, a long time yet… we’re too young and too uh— young?”

Shelby’s eyes sparkled with mirth, “We’re young alright.” she settled the matter with a kiss on Kahu’s cheek. 

The silence returned for a few minutes, each of them busy with their own task, until Shelby spoke again. Her voice was barely more than a whisper, meant to reach Kahu only. 

“You know, I think your last name would suit me well.” 

Kahu swallowed down, a breath catching in her throat as she turned her head slightly to meet Shelby’s eyes, a timid smile curving her lips, “Hold that thought for a few more years, will you?”

Shelby tried to poorly conceal a laugh against Kahu’s neck. 

When Mitch lifted her gaze, she found them exchanging a kiss full of the bliss that only a first love could give. She returned to the article with a shake of her head and a single thought on her mind.

_— Oh Kahu, you’re so losing those mugs —_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear reader, 
> 
> thank you for reaching this bottom end, thanks for taking the time to read this story and I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Couple of fun facts (you might like to know):
> 
> \- The nickname Tama gives Kahu was literally just a random mix of Kahu's whole name. I didn't want to use like 'lil sis' because I never truly heard anyone using that in real life (and I am not versatile in New Zealand slang ways in which siblings call each other lol)  
> \- I love whoever dressed up Kahu in the show and I couldn't pass on the chance of Shelby wearing one of Kahu's lovely t-shirts.  
> \- The ATV and the 'y'all' was a loving homage to Texan Shelby, as you might have guessed.  
> \- The bonus part was not planned at all at the beginning, but I loved ending the story on that note. That being said, I never really thought about them getting married at 17 or something, I just thought that talk of marriage might be enough to get Kahu on edge and one more excuse to make her flustered around Shelby (also Shelby Herewini truly sounds nice, doesn't it?)  
> \- Kahu is still totally getting the mugs... or not?
> 
> Okay that's all. Thank you for coming on this ride with me and feel free to leave comments or come find me on twitter (@ClexaIn)

**Author's Note:**

> Who would've thought that a new zealand sitcom could become one of my comfort shows? Not me!
> 
> I've tried to nail down Kahu and Mitch's characters as best as I could so I hope it worked.
> 
> Go watch Golden Boy if you haven't and if you have, come chat with me about this!


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